How Magnesium Helps with Sleep and Anxiety

Katie Taibl, RN
Katie Taibl, RN
10 minute read
November 16, 2022
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The blissful benefits of magnesium are often overlooked. From sleep to mental health, magnesium can work some subtle magic.

Rest is how your body recuperates and becomes fiercer, stronger, and sharper than ever. Unfortunately, in our ultra-busy world, constant pressure to do more leads us to skimp on rest.

I struggle with taking time away from projects or activities to just be. The pull of FOMO or false urgency can become all-consuming.

Adding the mineral magnesium to your diet can help your mind relax and curb the edge of our world’s constant stimulation.

Magnificent Magnesium 

Magnesium is an essential coenzyme that assists with hundreds of crucial processes in your body. From muscle strength to metabolism, magnesium plays an important role. When it comes to relaxing for the evening, magnesium can help soothe and calm an agitated nervous system.

Less stress leads to better sleep and a brain that works for you instead of against you.

Sleep Soundly with Magnesium

Struggling with sleep or relaxing before bed? Magnesium can help! It’s a known muscle relaxant and helps vasodilate arteries for optimal blood flow. One study showed that older adults who struggled with insomnia experienced better sleep after taking magnesium. Magnesium is also linked to lowered stress, enhancing quality rest.

Effective magnesium supplements are available in tablets or easily dissolvable powder. Just dissolve it in hot water, let the foam settle, and change into cozy pajamas to wind down. Diluting the powder breaks down the magnesium carbonate into more soluble (easily absorbed) magnesium citrate. It’s also helped me personally with migraines. However, note that magnesium oxide is the best type of magnesium for migraine treatment and prevention.

As a muscle relaxant, magnesium is a viable alternative to insomnia medication because it won’t make you drowsy the next day. It certainly won’t have you sleepwalking in the middle of the night! Because it’s a natural mineral, it’s a gentler way to fall asleep fast.

Magnesium May Reduce Anxiety and Depression

Some forms of magnesium have brain-protecting power and can reduce anxiety. Unlike anti-anxiety medications, it has few side effects.

  • Magnesium is a neuroprotectant, so it prevents cellular dysfunction and death.
  • A recent study suggests that healthy magnesium levels have a beneficial effect on anxiety and stress.
  • Hypomagnesemia, or magnesium deficiency, was linked to depression in rodents.

L-threonate for Anxiety, Memory, and Anti-Aging

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, look to magnesium. One study showed magnesium intake reduces fear memory but enhances working memory, so you’ll be more inclined to take healthy risks without overthinking. Magnesium also improves learning abilities by improving brain plasticity, or the power of your brain to adapt to new environments and situations.

Additionally, magnesium helps with cellular regeneration and may prevent age-related diseases. It also creates denser brain synapses. This is important for healthy aging, as the density of synapses declines as we get older.

Reduce stress and feel your best naturally with magnesium. If you want to improve memory loss and renew the neurons of your brain, supplementing with magnesium may help.

Risks of Magnesium Deficiency

As the fourth most abundant mineral in the body, magnesium plays a vital role in DNA and RNA synthesis.

High magnesium concentrations are found in the mitochondria of the cell. Magnesium also activates amino acid and protein synthesis. This is why magnesium is essential for cell function and energy production.

Many people are deficient in magnesium, even in the U.S. 

Risk factors for magnesium deficiency include:

  • Being older.
  • Having type 2 diabetes.
  • Having a gastrointestinal disorder.
  • Having an alcohol use disorder.

Anything that affects how nutrients are absorbed in your body can lead to a magnesium deficiency.

Certain medications also cause magnesium depletion. For older adults, paying attention to what prescriptions they take is essential. The older we get, the more medications we will likely be on.

Intense workouts also deplete magnesium. This is because magnesium gets redistributed to meet metabolic needs. Incorporating a magnesium supplement into a health and wellness routine can improve physical performance and help you feel your best. 

Eat More Magnesium-Rich Foods, Too

Millennials were onto something with avocado toast, a nutritional powerhouse, even if we won’t ever be able to afford real homes.

Magnesium-rich foods include dark leafy greens (think spinach), beans, almonds, avocados, dark chocolate, tuna, and bananas. Fortified cereals and whole grains are other good sources of magnesium. More magnesium-filled options include pumpkin seeds, cashews, chia seeds, edamame, brown rice, and salmon.

 In general, leafy veggies, fish, and foods with healthy fats are magnesium-rich sources.

Get Relaxed at Restore

Restore offers a magnesium supplement as an IV Drip. You can customize your drip with a medical professional to deliver beneficial nutrients for your mind and body.

Magnesium is a natural mineral with the potential for potent neurological and physical benefits.

Avoid the risks of magnesium deficiency by getting enough magnesium through food, supplements, and even IV Drip Therapy at Restore.

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